Talks

, , , , , ,

LAVA’s Sunday Salon

retro
0 1.3k

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather on the third floor of the historic Clifton’s Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a loosely structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the shortbread.

Special program at the July 25 Salon: LAVA Visionaries will host curated conversations and presentations at tables around the room. Stay tuned as additional details are added closer to Salon time.

12:30pm: A table discussion hosted by Visionary Miguel Angel Corzo on the subject of adaptive reuse of historic buildings, a topic of particular interest to him in his capacity as the President of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles’ newest addition to the region’s cultural landscape, soon to open in the restored 1888 Brunswig Building. He is President Emeritus of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and former Director of the Getty Conservation Institute.

1:00pm: A table discussion hosted by Visionary Joan Renner on the dark and nefarious history of L.A.’s old Chinatown (where Union Station stands today). From opium dens to fallen women, bartered babies to subterranean tunnels of vice, Chinatown embodied the weirdest fantasies of early 20th century Angelenoes. How much of it was true, how much a racist and pruprient fiction? Drop by Joan’s table to find out. Joan is a writer and a social historian with a passion for vintage cosmetics ephemera, and crime. As a tour guide for Esotouric she has created a personality profile of Elizabeth Short (aka The Black Dahlia) based upon her choice of makeup. Joan is currently developing a tour that will delve into graft and corruption in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Her blog Vintage Powder Room explores history, women, art, and provides her with a transparent excuse to add to her collection of over 500 items, which she has lectured on at the Queen Mary Art Deco Festival and at a past LAVA Salon.

Closing poem from Mike The Poet.

We regret to inform you that scheduled presenter Lin Van Hek is unable to appear due to unforseen circumstances. 

Following the Salon, a limited number of attendees are invited to join LAVA founder Richard Schave on a free walking tour of historic Olvera Street and a preview visit to downtown’s newest cultural institution, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in the old Brunswig Building just south of “La Placita” church. Here President and CEO Miguel Angel Corzo will give us a 30-minute walkthrough of the newly-refurbished site and touch on the core goals and objectives for the institution, which opens in the fall. For more info or to reserve (required), click here.

Clifton’s Cafeteria is at 648 South Broadway, near the corner of 7th Street. There are numerous paid parking lots nearby, and the closest Metro station is Pershing Square. Clifton’s is online at https://www.cliftonscafeteria.com

, , ,

RESCHEDULED: McSweeney’s Issue #35 Launch Party at 826LA & Stories

0 1.1k

(Please note: this event was originally scheduled for July 12)

Pick up your pre-purchased copy of McSweeney’s Quarterly #35 ($20+tax), enjoy food and drink.

Stay for a discussion and signing with McSweeney’s contributor, Ellie Kemper (The Office) and others (TBA).

Plus a musical guest!

With tremendous new stories from Steven Millhauser and Roddy Doyle, an epic, genre-shattering novella from Hilton Als, and a really excellent special section on Norway’s finest writers (featuring not just Per Petterson but also Kid Icarus and a woman named Blind Margjit)-along with, probably, correspondence from a man we can’t yet name and an unbelievable disappearing-ink cover done by Jordan Crane-Issue 35 is a full-to-bursting edition in the tradition of the best ones we’ve ever done. For several hundred pages of unrivaled summer reading, this is your book.

FREE to attend, McSweeney’s Quarterly #35 ($20+tax).
Click here to purchase and RSVP.

, , , , ,

LAVA’s Sunday Salon

retro
0 1.4k

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather on the third floor of the historic Clifton’s Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a loosely structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the shortbread.

Special program at the June 27 Salon: LAVA Visionaries will host curated conversations and presentations at tables around the room. To see photos from this past LAVA event, click here.

12:30pm-1pm: A live fashion presentation from Visionary A. Laura Brody. Remake, redo and reuse. While it may sound a little cliché today, it was necessary for survival after the Great Depression and became a catch phrase during the rationing of WWII.  Pushing consumerism during the ’50s made this notion unfashionable, and it has only recently come into fashion again. Unfortunately, it is often just that- fashion and a notion, not actual re-purposing or re-use. Here’s a way to experience actual, non-damaging to the environment re-purposing firsthand- on your body. Visionary A. Laura Brody will demonstrate live draping on a willing volunteer or volunteers, showing methods of creating clothing from existing scraps, fabrics and old clothing. The materials used will be the donated, left over and found remnants from her live draping Hollywood Fringe Festival event, Presque Prêt a Porter. The lucky mannequin/person will get a custom draped piece of clothing created just for him or her draped on him or her. Warning: scissors will be used close to the body. So will duct tape and staples. If this makes you very nervous, you may not be a good candidate. Perhaps 2 people can be draped within the 1/2 hour timeframe. She’ll also show you examples of her own re-purposed art and jewelry. ABOUT OUR FEATURED VISIONARY: A. Laura Brody is a professional costume designer and maker. Working for the entertainment industry exposes her to a disgusting amount of waste. To counter this (and as a matter of personal belief) she regularly re-uses material, notions, scraps and ideas in her designs, jewelry and art.  If you’d like to see more, you can find her jewelry site on Etsy (the handmade lifestyle web site) at https://dreamsbymachine.etsy.com and her art at https://www.dreamsbymachine.com .

1:15-2pm: A table discussion hosted by Visionary Manny Pacheco, the award-winning author of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History, which tells America’s story through the eyes of character actors. His paperback was recently added to the prestigious libraries of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute, and the Writer’s Guild Foundation. Pacheco is a 30-year Southern California radio and television personality who has appeared on Emmy-winning programs including NBC’s “Santa Barbara” and KCOP’s “In Studio.” At the LAVA Salon, he plans on sharing fascinating stories about Hollywood’s long and sometimes forgotten past during its Golden Age. Talking about character actors such as Lionel Barrymore, Van Heflin, Walter Brennan, Claude Rains, and Basil Rathbone, one can see that America’s story became an essential topic in the movies during the studio era of Cinema. Manny will also share his travels on what it took to get his book self-published. He will motivate you to start writing about your passions (whatever they may be). He will provide a step-by-step outline for bypassing the traditional East Coast elite in the publishing industry to get your inner-author out and into the hands of an eager public looking for new things to read. Whether you are a first-time writer or established scribe, you will want to listen to his motivating approach to the most traditional of businesses. You won’t want to miss a chance to meet the friendly and approachable Manny Pacheco, and check out his new book Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History!

Clifton’s Cafeteria is at 648 South Broadway, near the corner of 7th Street. There are numerous paid parking lots nearby, and the closest Metro station is Pershing Square. Clifton’s is online at https://www.cliftonscafeteria.com

, , , ,

LAVA’s Sunday Salon

retro
0 1.5k

On the last Sunday of the month starting in March 2010, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather on the third floor of the historic Clifton’s Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a loosely structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the shortbread.

Special program at the May 30 Salon: LAVA Visionaries will host curated conversations at tables around the room.

12:30pm: Social historian Joan Renner presents Pandora’s Boxes: According to Greek mythology, when Pandora opened the box that Zeus had warned her never to open, all of the world’s evils escaped and only one thing remained inside – hope. This concept of hope is a fitting metaphor for cosmetics.  Each container of face powder or jar of cold cream represents the dreams and desires of a woman seeking a magic potion that would make her beautiful. The exquisite and fragile packages used to market these dreams became the Pandora’s boxes of the early 20th century. Joan Renner has been collecting vintage cosmetics ephemera for over fifteen years. She has an extensive collection of commercial face powder boxes, rouge tins, advertisements, hair net packages and bobby pin cards. Please join her for a discussion of topics ranging from the design of the packaging to the use of arsenic laden face powder by women in 17th Century Italy to “accidentally” poison their unwanted husbands. Once gracing women’s dressing tables, various unique and beautiful items from Joan’s collection will be also be on display. These include items featured in her blog Vintage Powder Room and some never before exhibited. For a sneak peak at Joan’s collection, click this link.

1pm: Charles Fort, the League of Western Fortean Intermediatists, and a little town called Los Angeles: Phenomenologist Charles Fort (1874-1932) spent 27 years of his life humorously shredding orthodox science by collating thousands of accounts of unexplained phenomena which it couldn’t—and still can’t—explain away. The world has only gotten more phenomenal since Fort’s time, and the League of Western Fortean Intermediatists (L.O.W.F.I.) ensures that his spirit lives on: neither cranks nor skeptics, Forteans are characterized by their objectivity, good humor and lust for supernormal adventure. Based in Los Angeles, L.O.W.F.I.’s focus is on the long, strange life of the American southwest, gathering to discuss its enigmas, peculiarities and unexplainable events. Gonzo journalist and L.O.W.F.I. founder Skylaire Alfvegren has spent a lifetime researching the weird, wacky and unexplainable history of her hometown of Los Angeles. Join her as she explains Fort’s importance and the objectives of L.O.W.F.I., while detailing some of her favorite local cases of unexplainable phenomena. For more information, visit: https://forteanswest.com/wordpress-mu/?p=348


Clifton’s Cafeteria is at 648 South Broadway, near the corner of 7th Street. There are numerous paid parking lots nearby, and the closest Metro station is Pershing Square. Clifton’s is online at https://www.cliftonscafeteria.com

, ,

L.A. Police Historical Society open house

retro
0 1.1k

The Los Angeles Police Historical Society Museum is located in the 1925 Highland Park Police Station, which has been salvaged and restored to its original Renaissance Revival style and, today, is a registered National Historic landmark. Opened in 2001, the museum shares the rich history of the LAPD from its beginnings in 1869 to the 21st century.  

Visitors can tour the station, which showcases private collections and historical memorabilia dating back to the late 1800s, and use their own cameras to create “Booking Photos” of their favorite ‘crook’ in the historic jail. Outdoors, visitors of all ages – from toddlers to senior citizens – can climb into a retired police helicopter…and even try on police gear.  

This year, the museum will also pay tribute to the first policewoman in the United States – Alice Stebbins Wells, who joined the LAPD on September 12, 1910. John Buntin, bestselling author of LA Noir (and LAVA Visionary), will also be on hand to celebrate Museums of the Arroyo Day.

, , ,

This is the City: Mayor Frank Shaw, the Combination, and the Real L.A. Noir

0 1.6k

The Los Angeles City Historical Society and the History Department, Los Angeles Public Library Invite You to the 18th  Annual Marie Northrop Lecture Series:  “Growth, Graft, Grandeur:  Three Los Angeles Mayors” at the Mark Taper Auditorium of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library 630 West Fifth Street (between Grand Avenue and Flower Street). Lecture #2 in the series:  John Buntin on Mayor Frank L. Shaw, 1933-1938

ABOUT THE LECTURE: In 1933, Mayor Frank Shaw became the Mayor of Los Angeles, ushering in an era of corruption that scandalized the city and inspired writers from Raymond Chandler to James Ellroy. Yet in recent years, historians have begun to paint a more benign picture of L.A.’s most notorious chief executive. In his talk at the Central Library, John Buntin, the author of L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City, will take up the subject of Mayor Shaw and his relations with the LAPD. In the process, he’ll discuss some of Los Angeles’s most well-known lawmen — Chief James “Two Gun” Davis and his aide de camp, Lt. Bill Parker as well as some of Los Angeles’s most notorious criminals, among them Guy “Stringbean” McAfee, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, and Mickey Cohen. Drawing on primary source research and historical photographs, Buntin’s talk promises to be a fast-paced spin through the real Los Angeles underworld.

, , , , , , , ,

Spirits with Spirits: The Snow White Cafe

0 999

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let’s put the “Boo!” back into “booze.” All those who attend will receive a free G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you.

Note: At this month’s gathering, a “lost” Disneyland artifact will be on display for the first time since its removal in 1982, and for this one night only! In addition, the last remaining copies of “Disneyland after Dark: An Unauthorized Guide to the Happiest (Haunted) Place on Earth” will also be available for purchase, and the author and illustrator will be present.

,

826LA Adult Writing Seminar Series: Comedy Writers

0 1.9k

Comedy Writing with Bob Odenkirk, Jen Kirkman, Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, and Jill Soloway

Our panelists will discuss comedy writing: how they got started, what inspires them, and the dark, dark place comedy comes from. We will also be screening some shorts written by our panelists.

Our panelists:

Ben Acker & Ben Blacker have been writing together for ten years. Since 2005, they’ve written and produced a stage show in the style of old time radio called The Thrilling Adventure Hour which can be seen monthly at Largo at the Coronet in Hollywood. It was through this show that they were given an opportunity to write a script for a low-budget feature film. So they did. That film is Drones. Many of the cast members in the movie also appear in The Thrilling Adventure Hour.

Acker and Blacker, most recently, have done punch-up for shows on Cartoon Network and Comedy Central, helped relaunch Looney Tunes for WB Animation, and developed an animated comedy for 20th Century Fox and a kids’ space-western for Nickelodeon. Presently, they are developing an hour-long pilot for the USA network.

Those are their real names.

Jen Kirkman is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer. She was recently a cast member of VH1’s Acceptable TV and has been seen as a stand-up on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, NBC’s Late Friday, The UK’s World Stands Up and many other late-night comedy shows. She played many recurring characters on Cartoon Network’s Home Movies and currently impersonates lots of celebrities and politicians on Current TV’s political cartoon “Supernews”.

Jen released her first comedy album “Self Help” (taped at L.A.’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre!) in 2007 and she’s currently a writer for the late-night show Chelsea Lately on The E! Network.

Bob Odenkirk is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series, Mr. Show. He has made appearances on Seinfeld, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Joey, How I Met your Mother, Weeds, The Larry Sanders Show, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job and will be joining the cast of AMC’s Breaking Bad for five episodes as a ‘slippery ambulance chasing lawyer’. He also directed the Super Deluxe series Derek & Simon starring Simon Helberg and Derek Waters. 

Jill Soloway was most recently Showrunner/Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-winning series United States of Tara. Before that, Jill was a writer/Co-Executive Producer of HBO’s Six Feet Under and authored Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants, a hilarious/dirty/sad memoir hailed as a post-feminist manifesto for the next generation. She is currently writing and directing short films or Funny or Die and adapting the Pamela des Barres book, I’m With the Band, into a 1/2 hour comedy for HBO with Zooey Deschanel. Jill started out doing theater with her sister Faith in Chicago, where they created the stage phenomenon, The Real Live Brady Bunch. Jill also created Sit n’ Spin, a night of comedic monologues that has run for ten years in LA. Jill has two sons and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Bruce.

Moderator: Hailing from Amherst, New York, Marc Evan Jackson is an enormously interesting person. After graduating with a degree in Philosophy from Calvin College and a couple years sailing aboard schooners in Maine, Marc worked as an on-air host for National Public Radio affiliate stations in Michigan before joining the Second City’s resident company in Detroit.

Marc can currently be seen in the feature films Drones, Broken Lizard’s The Slammin’ Salmon, and Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen.

An actor, improviser, musician, writer and voiceover talent, Marc lives with his (current) wife Beth, a cat veterinarian in Los Angeles, where he performs live with The 313 at iOwest, Sky & Nancy Collins from Orange County at The Improv, and as Sparks Nevada, the marshal on Mars in The Thrilling Adventure Hour.

The seminar will be held Monday, May 3, 8:00 p.m. at Busby’s East. Tickets are $25.

«< 17 18 19 20 21 >»